Yearly Checkups

At your annual wellness visit with your PCP, you should get a physical exam, including a blood pressure check and a body mass index measurement. This may be a good time to also get your annual flu shot. But do you know you can talk to your PCP during this visit about other topics, too, like ways to make healthy lifestyle choices? Write down a list of things you want to discuss and bring it to your appointment. It may be a good idea to include some of these items:

• Your goals for advance care planning (visit our website for helpful tools and resources)
• How well your medications are working
• A plan for exercising
• Controlling pain
• Preventing falls
• Ways to stop drinking alcohol or smoking
• Ways to manage anxiety or depression
• How to manage urinary leakage
• Other immunizations you may need, such as a pneumonia vaccine

Preventive Screenings

Everyone has their own personal profile of appropriate screenings and tests, so talk to your doctor about the best ones for you. Some screenings most people need regularly include:

• Cholesterol screening, to check your risk of developing heart disease
• Breast cancer screening (for women), to check breast health
• Osteoporosis screening (for women), to check bone density
• Glaucoma screening, to check for abnormal pressure in the eyes
• Colon cancer screening, to check intestinal health 

So remember, planning for your overall well-being means not forgetting to take important preventive measures. Schedule a visit with your PCP today!